1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to oral hygiene, and more particularly, a holder for a toothpaste tube and toothbrushes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous innovations for toothpaste and toothbrush holders and dispensers have been provided in the prior art that will be described. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention.
A FIRST EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 3,155,278, Issued on Nov. 3, 1964, to Le Baron teaches a toothpaste dispenser and brush holder comprising a generally U-shaped housing including a pair of generally parallel upstanding legs interconnected at one pair of adjacent sides by means of an upright bight portion, the holder including means adapted to support said housing from an upright supporting surface with the bight portion disposed in surface-to-surface contacting relation with the surface and three free ends of the legs projecting away from the surface, an upwardly opening U-shaped spring clip secured to the lower portion of the bight portion, an upright panel member disposed between the legs and having its lower edge removably retained in the clip with the latter pivotally securing the lower end of the panel member to the housing for rotation about an axis extending between the lower ends of the legs and generally paralleling the lower edge of the panel member with the free upper end of the panel member swingable toward and away from the upper end of the bight portion, an upwardly opening toothbrush receiving member carried by the side of the panel member remote from the bight portion and spaced inwardly from the upstanding side edge portions of the panel member, the free upstanding edges of the legs, remote from the panel member terminating in inturned flanges between which the toothbrush receiving member is receivable, the flanges defining abutments engageable by the opposite upstanding marginal edge portions of the panel member projecting outwardly beyond the toothbrush receiving member for limiting swinging movement of the upper end of the panel member away from the bight portion to a position defining an upwardly opening wedge shaped recess for the reception of an upright collapsible tube of toothpaste whereby the panel member may have its upper end pushed toward the bight portion in order to squeeze the collapsible tube and force toothpaste therefrom.
A SECOND EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,877, Issued on Mar. 30, 1976, to Galicia teaches a multi-clip plastic holder for toothbrushes, razors and other like articles has a base strip coated with a pressure-sensitive adhesive on its back side permitting the strip to be applied securely to any clean, firm surface whether flat or round. Integral with the base strip at spaced intervals therealong is a plurality of sets of coacting clip fingers each with outwardly-flared tips and suitably larger spacing midway therebetween to permit the handle of a toothbrush to be pressed therebetween from the outer end and to grip the handle and hold the same releasably in place. Each set of clip fingers is integral with the base strip over a sufficiently narrow length thereof to retain a flexibility for even adhesive application of the base strip to uneven surfaces without affecting the grip of the coacting clip fingers. In an alternative embodiment, the base strip has also clip members at the ends receiving cores to which a protective liner for the pressure-sensitive coating is attached. One of these cores is enlarged to serve as a spool which when pulled from one clip can be rolled along the back side of the base member to wind up the liner and to be then snapped into the second clip at the other end. When the holder is detached from a wall and is to be packed with other belongings for a later use, the spool is pulled from the second clip, rolled along the back side of the base strip to reapply the protective liner and is then snapped back into the first clip.
A THIRD EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 3,988,234, Issued on Dec. 21, 1976, to Stubbmann teaches a housing with a shallow recess having an animatable display positioned therein protected by a transparent shield. The animatable display includes a stationary fanciful representation of a character prominently displaying its teeth and movable representations of an arm and a hand carrying a replica of a toothbrush with its bristles adjacent the prominently displayed teeth. The character is standing in front of a sink on the stationary display. The movable representations of the animatable display are in operable communication with a spring driven musical movement within the housing and will be reciprocally translated in a generally vertical direction while the musical movement is playing. The musical movement is controlled by a blocking arm having a portion extending from the housing to form a control tab. The blocking arm is movable between two positions. In one position the blocking arm will prevent the activation of the musical movement and in the other position will permit the musical movement to play. The housing also has a holder for supporting at least one toothbrush. A timer may be provided which is responsive to the starts and stops of the musical movement to indicate the length of time that the child has brushed his or her teeth.
A FOURTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,842, Issued on Oct. 22, 1996, to Dennis teaches a holder for holding a toothpaste pump dispenser and toothbrushes. The holder has a base which is mounted to a vertical wall. A cup is coupled to the base so as to extend out from the wall. The cup receives and holds a toothpaste dispenser therein. The cup has an upper edge which permits a dispenser nozzle of the toothpaste dispenser to be operated so that toothpaste may be dispensed from the nozzle while the dispenser is located in the cup. Toothbrush mounts are also coupled to the base extending away from the wall. The toothbrush mounts receive and support toothbrushes on the holder.
A FIFTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,840, Issued on Jun. 17, 1997, to Lee et al. teaches a combination toothbrush holder, floss dispenser, drinking cup and toothpaste holder designed to compactly hold and dispense the above items while maintaining a unified appearance in the shape of a sitting cat. The head portion contains a standard dental floss container. The floss protrudes through a hole in the cat shaped head. A cutting blade is affixed to the top of the cat shaped head for cutting the floss. The mid section of the cat shape forms a drinking cup and also forms an enclosure for a standard toothpaste tube. The base section of the cat shape contains a pair of mating rollers capable of squeezing a tube of toothpaste captured between the two rollers. This happens when the user rotates the tail portion of the cat shape which is rigidly connected to the shaft of one of the rollers. The outside portion of the base contains receptacles for a plurality of toothbrushes. In this way, the present invention holds and dispenses all the items necessary for caring for the teeth and gums and does so in a compact and novel fashion which will entice the user the use the dental care items contained therein.
A SIXTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,279, Issued on Oct. 14, 1997, to Bastion teaches a new Gravity Powered Toothpaste Dispensing System for dispensing of toothpaste with one action control without utilization of an additional power source and preventing unsanitary leakage from open toothpaste containers. The inventive device includes a housing structure, a toothpaste dispensing front cover attached to the housing structure, at least one roller member slidably positioned within the housing structure and descending upon a toothpaste tube for facilitating dispensing of toothpaste, and a toothpaste lever and cap.
A SEVENTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,282, Issued on Feb. 9, 1999, to Imhoff teaches a dispenser for a material contained within a flexible tube which includes a main body that has a longitudinally extending front surface for supporting the tube, an opposing rear surface, a pair of side walls that extend upwardly from the front surface and along the longitudinal extent thereof, and a gear rack extending adjacent to an inner surface of each of the side walls. Preferably, the side walls are spaced apart a sufficient distance to receive the tube and the gear racks therebetween. An elongate roller has a shaft that extends from each end of the roller and each shaft projects through a slot and one of the side walls. Each shaft further includes a gear positioned between the roller and one of the side walls and in alignment with one of the gear racks. Each gear is in meshing engagement with its corresponding gear rack. A knob is attached to an outer end of at least one shaft for rotating the roller and gears with respect to the gear racks for moving the roller along the longitudinal extent of the front surface. The roller is spaced a sufficient distance from the front surface of the main body to thereby press the tube between the roller and the front surface and to force the material in the tube toward the tube spout. A toothbrush holder is mounted to and extends rearwardly from the main body rear surface. A wall mount is attached to a recess located in a rear surface of the toothbrush holder for mounting the dispenser to a wall. A portion of the adaptor base is received in the mounting recess when positioning the dispenser on a horizontal surface.
AN EIGHTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 6,364,165, Issued on Apr. 2, 2002, to Sampson et al. teaches a system for selectively dispensing toothpaste from a flexible toothpaste tube that includes a flexible boot having a flexible tube-receiving cavity and a boot nozzle with which an outlet of the toothpaste tube aligns. Pins are insertable into sleeves of the flexible boot and movable between open and closed positions for removal and insertion of the toothpaste tube. A presser engages the outer surface of the boot to selectively squeeze toothpaste from the toothpaste tube through the boot nozzle. A controller intermittently activates a driver which moves the presser along a track towards the boot nozzle to dispense a measured amount of toothpaste. Jaws are positioned adjacent to the boot nozzle for selectively opening and closing the boot nozzle. A timer and an adjustable volume dispensing dial control the amount of toothpaste dispensed.
A NINTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,703, Issued on Sep. 14, 2004, to Pierre-Louis teaches a toothpaste dispenser which holds a collapsible tube of toothpaste within a housing between a roller assembly and a wall surface. A plunger is operable from a relaxed, raised position to a lowered, depressed position to drivingly engage the roller assembly so that one or more rollers are moved along the toothpaste tube in a manner which squeezes toothpaste out of the tube and onto the bristles of a toothbrush held in close proximity to a dispensing outlet of the tube or a nozzle. A spring returns the plunger to the relaxed, raised position upon removing the downward force. The housing is provided with toothbrush holders and a removable cover to permit replacement of the tube of toothpaste.
It is apparent now that numerous innovations for toothpaste and toothbrush holders and dispensers have been provided in the prior art that are adequate for various purposes. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, accordingly, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.